RJA Show in Tallahassee, FL

[hotrodjess]

i was soo looking forward to this. it had been a tough week and i thought this was just what i needed. it turned out that i was right. it was EXACTLY what i needed.

the day started off like normal. i had class at 2:30. it was organic chemistry. i almost fell asleep in class. class got out at 3:20pm so i went back to my room and ate something then just killed time until about 4:30pm. after making sure i had everything i needed i left and headed to meet lynn and megan at mcdonald's. it took me all of 5-10min to get there. after eating, we headed down to the back of the venue and just chilled. we try tofind someone that works at the venue to ask hi mhow i get in. joey walks by so i ask him and he goes running off and a few mins later a guy comes u p to us and says that he'll tell security when they get there to come and give us our wrist bands. about 6pm joey comes back out and gives each of us a hug and we talk to him about his daughter ella and how he had a "daddy scare" the other day when ella fell and cut her lip. then i gave him the heart that i made for rja saying that "i always tell people that rja has my heart, so here you go." he asked if i made it and said he wanted to learn how to make stuff like that. soon he left with nate to go say hi to the people waiting in line at the front. around 7pm the security guy comes out and gives us our bands and we go in. i get a good veiwing spot. there is a hole in front of me where someone could stand, but if they stood there i wouldnt be albe to see so i told like 4 people no when they asked if they could stand there. one of the guys was a real jerk and ended up next to me and in between bands all him and his girlfriend did was make out.

fast forward to rja's set cuz i dont remember much of the other bands that played before them. rja comes out and plays waiting, you better pray, and pen and paper. then i think this was the point where ronnie picked up the hot dog that someone bought him and gave it to a girl in the crowd. then he introduced matt carter who is playing guitar in elias's place for the moment. wether he'll be permant no one knows. anyway ronnie asks if the crowd thinks matt looks like jack black and said, "we do too. thats why we cal him matt black." then they play false pretense and then in ronnie's words, "an old song." of course that "old song is justify. after that everyone but ronnie leaves and ronnie gets his acoustic guitar and plays the chorus of love seat, and then much to my delight he plays all of CAT AND MOUSE. for those of you that dont know that is my favorite song(off of the album anyway). it has become my anthem in a sense because when all this mess with going to FSU started the line "am i supposed to be happy with all i ever wanted. it comes at a price" from cat and mouse has been ringing through my head. after that ronnie plays your guardian angel and the rest of the band joins in at the end. then they play face down and then their old tour manager lee miles sings with them during grim goodbye.

afterwards i wait around until the crowd thins out and i see ronnie. there is a huge crowd around him so i wait a few min. before i go get in the crowd. i wait my turn and then when he gets to me this is our conversation.

me: i just want a hug. ive seen you guys enough times i dont need anymore autographs or pictures.

rw: *hugs me*

me: your used to seeing me around tampa shows

rw: yea, your hair is longer now

me: yea i just moved to tallahasee

rw: really why?

me: i'm going to florida state

rw: cool

*high five*

rw: is this your first time in college?

me: no i got my associates in tampa. im just finishing my bachelors degree.

rw: whats your major

me: biomedical engineering

ronnie: thats a hard one

me: i know

rw: *shakes my hand* good luck

me: thanks

after ronnie i left and went outside and got another hug from joey and said goodbye. duke was right there too so i got a hug from him and we got to talking about how i just moved to tally and how my dorm is within walking distance and i told him it was weird being in my dorm room by myself cuz im not used to being alone and i dont have a routine yet and he said, "yea i know how you feel. this is the first day of tour and it feels so weird being back on tour. it takes some getting use to." with that i said goodbye and went to mcdonalds and ate an ice cream cone eventhough it was like 40 degrees outside.

needless to say the whole night was amazing. that conversation with ronnie totally made me forget how bad the week had been and for once i felt like i was supposed to be here at FSU.